Born Again
by WhiteRookBlackBishop
Summary: Something has happened in Middle Earth that caused a state of spiritual unrest. The souls of Bilbo, Thorin, and the Company have been cursed, and they must be reborn again every century until they find each other and restore balance to their troubled souls. Now living in England in 2013, William T. Baggins embarks on an adventure he never knew he had already been on. (Modern!AU)
1. Prologue: Dreams (Or, An Old Friend)

**Prologue: Dreams**

_" Fili! Kili! Stay away!"_  
_" Stop!"_  
_" Bilbo!"_

William wrenched his eyes open and shot up from his bed, yelling in shock. He let out a relieved sigh and ran a hand over his eyes, exhaling harshly. It was the same dream again. It was always the same dream.  
In this dream, he was living in this Tolkien-like fantasy. He was smaller than a man, with comically large feet. The only word to name what he was is "Hobbit". What was a Hobbit?  
He had dreamed of his death again. As ever, William could only see the blurred faces of his companions- Fili and Kili, he supposed- and feel the blinding white pain before everything disappeared. He didn't know what struck him down, or who, as he would awaken before anything else took place.  
"It's only a dream, Bil," William murmured to himself in the darkness. He lay back down and rolled to face the window. The moon shone through the blinds as the man gazed forward. As he drifted back to sleep, images of treasure maps and glowing runes in the moonlight flitted behind his eyelids and disappeared behind the illusions of dreams.

When morning came, William was already wide awake and prepared for the day. It was a Sunday, so he didn't have to work today. Not a cloud was in the sky. The temperature was cool with an embracing warmth from the sun.  
"Bil!" an old man was making his way up William's driveway. It was Mr. White, a respectable old man -he has looked ancient since before William could remember- with a long white beard, which had been tied nicely this day. In his hand was a long wooden cane that stood up to his hip. It was covered with knobs, which the children made up stories for (the most recent was that the cane was magic and the knobs held pixies). The younger smiled warmly at him- he was in a fantastic mood this morning- and gestured for him to take a seat on the metal bench in his front yard. The tall, greying man gave him a grateful look and sat, looking out on the street.  
"Good morning, sir," William greeted. The old man let out an amused chuckle, like William had just told him an inside joke. "I'm sorry, did I say something amusing?"  
"No, no," the man assured him. "Not much has changed since I've seen an old friend, that is all."  
A curious look passed the younger's face before he took a seat next to him. "What do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Mr. White?"  
"Well, first of all 'White' is not my name, it is Gandalf," the wise old man gave a small chuckle, hardly offended. "You would think people raise their children and gave them such a name to place upon me!"  
"Er, well," William coughed. "They, er... They have."  
"Oh," Gandalf frowned, looking at the grass with a renewed fascination. "Am I truly that old?"  
William only laughed and touched his shoulder in a placating gesture. "That's quite all right, Gandalf. Think of it as your legend."  
"Oh, I have been the figure of many legends, Master Bilbo," the old man's eyes twinkled with rueful mirth.  
"I'm sorry?" William paused, leaning toward the older man. "I didn't quite hear that."  
"Mister Bil," Gandalf said quickly, looking up at William strangely.  
"I could have sworn I heard 'Bilbo'," William persisted.  
"You heard nothing, that is... That is my senile old brain, you see! It jumbles my words terribly, comes with old age- ah, the time," Gandalf, without a single glance at his watch, stood quickly. William stood with him.  
"You should join me for tea sometime," he offered. "It has been a while since I've seen you. It would be wonderful to have my old mentor sit with me again."  
"Of course," Gandalf turned to smile as he made his way back down the driveway. "It was wonderful seeing you again, young Bil. Remember to write."

When William turned around again, the old man had disappeared.

_"Far over the misty mountains' cold,_  
_To dungeons deep and caverns old,_  
_We must away ere break of day_  
_To find our long forgotten gold."_  
_"BILBO!"_

_**-Ende aus dem Prolog-**_

**Author's note: I'd like to dedicate this new story to my followers on tumblr, for whom I began to write again. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have writing it. And to Mister Tolkien, I'm so sorry I cannot bring your characters and your world justice (I think it is for the best I made this a modern AU).**


	2. Chapter 1: A Familiar Face

Chapter 1: A Familiar Face

_"Thorin."  
"Traitorous wretch."  
"I'm sorry."_

Three days had passed since Gandalf's visit. The nightmares had begun to change since then. Now, he could hear a new voice. Thorin. What was this world in his dreams? Why does he die?

"How do I die?" William murmured to himself, fingering the edge of the bedsheet. It was still only three in the morning, and sleep evaded him. He sighed and turned to face the window, watching the stars in the sky. "What do all of these dreams mean?"

Half an hour later, William still found himself unable to sleep. With an aggravated, hushed yell he jumped out of bed and walked to his desk, where his computer waited. The familiar symbols greeted him with harshly bright flashes of light and the computer booted up.

It only took William two seconds to type in his password- recently changed to "hobbit", as nobody else would guess it- and open up his browser.

"Let's see... 'Meaning of dream'..."

There were quite a few websites available, much to William's surprise. He chose a reliable-looking one and clicked on the search bar.

"What should I put? Dying?"

The definition flashed immediately after he typed the word in.

_Dying (yourself)- A transitional phase or period of your life is occurring. You may become more spiritual during this change._

"No, that's not it," William scoffed. "Such a load of rubbish. New website, then..."

_The person whom you dream of dying may be a person you want to leave you alone or go away._

"I doubt I want myself to go anywhere but work, home, or on a vacation."

_A change you feel may be inevitable._

"Nothing is changing! This is all rubbish!"

William closed out the browser and shut the computer off. Strangely, the search for answers returned his fatigue to him. He hardly remembered hitting the pillows of his bed before he fell asleep again.

**Beep beep beep beep**

A groan was the only response as a hand slapped the snooze button. Another mumble sounded from under a rather large comforter on a king-sized bed.

"You need to go to work..." a man murmured. His partner hummed and buried himself under the sheets.

"Mmmh. I'm sure my new boss could forgive me if I told him my alarm didn't wake me up."

"Get ready for work, idiot."

"You love me too much to let me go."

"I love you too much to let you stay here when you could be making money," a hand pulled the comforter off of a brunette head. The man groaned and hid his head under the pillow, which not three seconds later was confiscated as well.

"Five more minutes, God!" he groaned, covering his eyes. The blonde sat up and looked at the clock, a small smirk lifting his features.

"Fine, five more minutes."

**Beep beep beep beep-**

"ARGH!" the brunette sat up and slammed his fist on the clock. A cracking sound interrupted the following silence, though the clock remained to tell the time. The blond man laughed.

"Time for work," he murmured, kissing his partner's cheek.

"Ass," he grumbled, getting up from the bed.

"I love you too."

The dark-haired man paused in his walk toward the bathroom and turned back toward the bed.

"Philip?" he murmured.

"Yeah?" the blonde sat up, smiling at him.

"I had the dream again, last night," he said, frowning. Philip sobered and sat up straight.

"Which one?" he asked. Upon the lack of response, he repeated himself. "Which one, Kilian?"

"It was... It was a new one," Kilian answered. "But it was the same. You were there, as always. We were brothers."

"As always," Philip murmured. "Was it the trolls? The mountain of gold again?"

"No," the brunette shook his head, biting his lip. "It... It was a- um. It was an execution."

"Whose?" Philip frowned.

"Mine."

"Kilian, come here."

Kilian obeyed and sat on the edge of the bed. Philip pulled him into a hug and held him close in comfort. At first, there were only trembles. But as time passed, the trembles turned to full-blown sobs. Philip only continued to hold his boyfriend, shushing him quietly.

"It was only a dream. I wouldn't let anything like that happen," he assured him. Kilian shook his head.

"There... There was something else," Kilian added.

"What?"

_"I was after you."_

_-.-_

"Hello, I'm Kilian Durin," Kilian flashed a cheeky smile at the secretary, causing her to blush. "I'm the new guy you hired last week?"

"Um..." she continued to stare until the brunette cleared his throat. "O-oh! Sorry, let me check. Yes, Kilian Durin. You'll be working under Manager Baggins."

"Thank you," he winked and headed for the office door.

Kilian didn't really want to be here. He was asked to take the job by his cousin's family friend. He said something about meeting an old colleague and getting to know him. His hand ghosted over the pale blue walls on his way to the door marked "Party Business- Manager Boggins". Honestly, he didn't know why he had to work under this man, especially with party planning. It all seemed boring, and Kilian didn't appreciate boring. He would much rather sleep in with his boyfriend in his arms like always.

"Come on in," a masculine voice answered Kilian's knock. The young man's eyebrows shot up in surprise. A man working on party planning? He thought only women enjoyed the job.

"Hello, you're Manager Boggins, correct?" he asked, peeking in. A man with curly brownish-red hair glared at him.

"It's 'Baggins', yes," he replied. "We're getting that sign fixed next week. You must be Mr. Durin."

"That would be correct. So, what do you want me to do, boss?" Kilian looked around. The room was unique. It wasn't a typical office, like one would expect to find in an office building. The desks, chairs, and decorum were all antiques. There was a leather-bound book on a writing desk behind Mr. Baggins. His interest was piqued.

"Well, I'd first like to know your full name," Mr. Baggins smiled. "You may refer to me as William, Mr. Baggins, or Bil. That is it."

"Mr. Baggins, my name is Kilian," he mock-bowed and grinned. William tutted and shook his head, smiling. He looked back up at the younger and stared.

Kilian Durin. Somehow, William saw him as a shorter fellow, wearing blue. He would have longer hair...

"Kili..." William whispered. Kilian froze and stared at his boss.

"What did you call me?" he asked. William blinked and cleared his throat.

"I said Kilian," he corrected. "Kilian."

Kilian nodded, frowning. Mr. Baggins looked familiar to him, though he couldn't place why. The name "Kili" was his from his dream. Did this man know anything?

"Mr. Durin, please send these files over to Miss Lane, the secretary that sent you here," William held up a box lid filled with ten folders and thirteen loose sheets of paper. Kilian followed his orders and exited the room quickly.

William waited for two seconds before swiveling his chair to face his writing desk. "Kili... Why did I call him Kili, like in my dreams?"

He opened the book and wrote two words upon the page.

_Kilian Durin_

-End of Chapter 1-

-.-

**AN: I'm terribly sorry this chapter is so short. I'll work hard to bring you all a longer chapter next time! After all, it's my Spring vacation, and I have all the time in the world to continue writing! Thank you for all of your support, though I do not deserve it!**

**I have two notes to give you:**

**Yes, I support Durincest. However, to fit the pairing into the modern world, I took the liberty of separating all bonds Fili and Kili would have as brothers. In this story, they aren't related at all, but they're dating. Mr. Tolkien is probably still rolling in his grave right now. There are a couple of notes I could add to this one, but that would contain spoilers and who really even likes spoilers?**

**The second note is that each of the characters will have their own set of "soul memories", or memories from their original past lives. William (Bilbo) remembers part of his death and his banishment from Erebor. Kilian (Kili) remembers the trolls, entering the gold chambers of Erebor, and... something else. Gandalf remembers everything because he never died and he doesn't apply to the "senile old man" stereotype.**

**Until next time! Auf Wiedersehen!**


End file.
